Ken Lewis Willing to Stay on at Bank of America... You Know... As a Favor

You're telling me with 10% unemployment we can't find a sucker to take over for Ken Lewis? No one? What is it, those Bank of America cooties? The pay czar? Fears over getting punked by those hard-assed Richmond Fed bank supervisors?

Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has said he would consider postponing his retirement if directors need more time to find a successor or smooth the transition to the next CEO, according to a person close to him.

Mr. Lewis's willingness to stay at the Charlotte, N.C., bank beyond his planned Dec. 31 retirement date is the latest sign of the difficulties directors have faced in finding a replacement. Tensions have mounted as various internal and external candidates are floated, approached and vetted, people familiar with the discussions said. Some people inside the company claim the process is leaving the bank adrift without cohesive leadership as it tries to navigate the recession and other problems.

The 62-year-old Mr. Lewis has no plans to backtrack on his Sept. 30 retirement announcement, indicating only that he could act as a "bridge" until a successor is found, according to the person close to him. While Bank of America directors have shown no obvious interest in the idea so far, "the door isn't shut," this person said.

Meanwhile, the board has completed its interviews of inside and outside CEO candidates and is expected to deliberate over the weekend, according to another person familiar with the discussions.

Why doesn't the Treasury just force BofA to find a replacement for Lewis as a condition of TARP? Oh wait, they tried that already.

Ok, how about this, why doesn't BofA go to some managerial business school and find the best and brightest (not too bright, this is a setup after all...) and offer him or her the job? I'm sure some 25 year old new grad would love the job, just throw in Thain's golden toilet to sweeten the deal. It'll totally work, trust me.

Share story

Some say he’s half man half fish, others say he’s more of a seventy/thirty split. Either way he’s a fishy bastard.

4
comments:

Anonymous
said...

They need to do what Aurthur Anderson did, but follow the advice to the letter......get an old guy....Paul Volker, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger et al to helm the beast thru the storm. They all have the willingness and ability to gut out the bad.